New PROMETHEUS trailer! Looks even more awesome!
LE VIDEO SHELF: a love letter to all things film
Showing posts with label Ridley Scott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ridley Scott. Show all posts
19.3.12
8.1.12
PROMETHEUS (2012)
I really hope this is good! It looks very interesting and slightly terrifying! Ridley Scott in classic form, it would seem.
5.1.12
Looking forward into 2012
So 2011 was a tremendous year for film, I think we can all agree. Despite it not being a banner year for box office receipts, it was for emerging talent and innovative concepts. The studios may not have been happy, as there was no Batman sequel or INCEPTION-like tentpole from Christopher Nolan, nor was there a runaway summer superhero or action film, in fact many of the much-hyped titles all but flopped. Instead, we see character driven movies, smaller independent stories, and sophomore efforts from promising filmmakers emerge once it was clear capital-H Hollywood had little to offer. We saw rise of Jessica Chastain, Ryan Gosling, and Michael Fassbender, we saw Werner Herzog take documentary filmmaking to new heights and dimensions, and many auteur filmmakers added titles to their respective oeuvres: Woody Allen, Terence Malick, Alexander Payne, Lars von Trier, and Errol Morris. Hollywood struck back in December, compensating with their lackluster summer, with huge titles like Spielberg's THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, Brad Bird's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL, and David Fincher's THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, which are all fairly safe projects for the studios given the bankable stars, directors, and subject matter.
So what does 2012 hold? Who will rise and triumph, and who will crash and burn? Hollywood has a promising slate: possibly the biggest film of the year will be Christopher Nolan's much hyped final chapter in his Batman saga, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Although the AMAZING SPIDERMAN, yes a re-launch of that series, might have something to say about that. There will be an AVENGERS movie, which will also no doubt be a huge box office draw. But what else is there? What am I looking forward to in 2012? (Aside from TDKR) I will tell you:
LOOPER, directed by Rian Johnson.
Johnson directed one of the great neo-noir films, 2005's BRICK, a gripping mystery set in a high school setting, with all the noir archtypes present: detective, kingpin, femme fatale, etc., and it worked incredibly. He followed BRICK up with 2008's THE BROTHERS BLOOM which I enjoyed, but did not love. LOOPER re-teams Johnson with BRICK star Joseph Gordon Levitt who has since exploded on the scene. This time they are leaning towards sci-fi more with a story about a hitman who is sent into the future to do a hit and encounters his future self (Bruce Willis) who is waiting to be knocked off. Or something. That is basically what I have gleaned from the paltry amount of info on this movie. Johnson has been running a LOOPER tumblr blog, posting post-, pre-, and production stills, as well as concept art there so it is an interesting browse! Looking forward to this showing its face in October.
MOONRISE KINGDOM, directed by Wes Anderson.
What can I say? The Texas-born auteur returns in 2012 with another undoubtedly-charming film called MOONRISE KINGDOM, the plot of which IMDB says is so: "A pair of lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them." It is fairly safe to say it will be funny and quirky, and will have a wonderful soundtrack full of rare Bob Dylan or Beatles or Lou Reed b-sides. That's just speculation, but one thing that is known for sure is his ensemble cast is as big and varied as ever, including Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray (yeah!), Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel, and Jason Schwartzman. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if a Wilson brother or two made an appearance. Personally, I feel Anderson peaked early in his career with BOTTLE ROCKET, RUSHMORE, and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. I will admit I did not love either THE LIFE AQUATIC nor THE DARJEELING LIMITED, but FANTASTIC MR. FOX was amazing and restored my faith, so let's hope he is on the rise to a second peak in his career, this time staying there for good.
PROMETHEUS, directed by Ridley Scott.
I love Ridley Scott's films when I get the sense he is completely submersing himself in a project. Now that may seem ridiculous, because he is a professional director, but some of his films are different, think BLADE RUNNER, ALIEN, GLADIATOR. There is something in these films that sets them apart, and for that reason they have become landmark films in their respective genres: sci-fi, sci-fi/horror, and historical action, respectively. I deeply hope, that PROMETHEUS can be added to this trope. PROMETHEUS is the prequel/sequel/different-story-same-universe to Scott's 1979 classic ALIEN, (along with the three other titles in this series), which has prompted much speculation and rumoring about the content. There is talk it will reveal clues to the origins of the Aliens of title, of man himself, and even the universe. Most interestingly perhaps, it will reveal some back-story about the enigmatic and unexplained "Space Jockey" seen in Scott's 1979 film. The trailer swept through just before Christmas and provided some suspenseful imagery; I think it is safe to say the Alien series is being taken back into the sci-fi/horror genre. The cast also looks excellent with Noomi Rapace (the original Lisbeth Salander), Michael Fassbender, Patrick Wilson, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, and Guy Pearce. Let's hope this turns out to be as good as we all want it to be!
GRAVITY, directed by Alfonso Cuarón.
Cuarón is responsible for one of my favorite films, the epic CHILDREN OF MEN, as well as the very excellent Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, so naturally I perked up when I heard he was doing another sci-fi film, this time with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. Rumors have also been swirling around this one, of a wildly technologically ambitious film told through motion capture, 3D, and most recently, of it being told in one long take, something Cuarón dazzled me with in CHILDREN OF MEN. No doubt if it is "one long take", there will be cuts hidden digitally here and there, but it will be quite impressive. I wonder if that means the story will be in real-time also? Another news item that has recently come up is that Cuarón has said "no" to his actors wearing make-up in the film. Interesting! I'm sure this film will get a lot of press for its innovations when the publicity campaign ramps up in the months before its alledged November 21 release date.
So what does 2012 hold? Who will rise and triumph, and who will crash and burn? Hollywood has a promising slate: possibly the biggest film of the year will be Christopher Nolan's much hyped final chapter in his Batman saga, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Although the AMAZING SPIDERMAN, yes a re-launch of that series, might have something to say about that. There will be an AVENGERS movie, which will also no doubt be a huge box office draw. But what else is there? What am I looking forward to in 2012? (Aside from TDKR) I will tell you:
 |
| Director Rian Johnson with what may appear to be a time-traveling machine. |
Johnson directed one of the great neo-noir films, 2005's BRICK, a gripping mystery set in a high school setting, with all the noir archtypes present: detective, kingpin, femme fatale, etc., and it worked incredibly. He followed BRICK up with 2008's THE BROTHERS BLOOM which I enjoyed, but did not love. LOOPER re-teams Johnson with BRICK star Joseph Gordon Levitt who has since exploded on the scene. This time they are leaning towards sci-fi more with a story about a hitman who is sent into the future to do a hit and encounters his future self (Bruce Willis) who is waiting to be knocked off. Or something. That is basically what I have gleaned from the paltry amount of info on this movie. Johnson has been running a LOOPER tumblr blog, posting post-, pre-, and production stills, as well as concept art there so it is an interesting browse! Looking forward to this showing its face in October.
 |
| Wes Anderson, in typical garb. |
What can I say? The Texas-born auteur returns in 2012 with another undoubtedly-charming film called MOONRISE KINGDOM, the plot of which IMDB says is so: "A pair of lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them." It is fairly safe to say it will be funny and quirky, and will have a wonderful soundtrack full of rare Bob Dylan or Beatles or Lou Reed b-sides. That's just speculation, but one thing that is known for sure is his ensemble cast is as big and varied as ever, including Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray (yeah!), Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel, and Jason Schwartzman. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if a Wilson brother or two made an appearance. Personally, I feel Anderson peaked early in his career with BOTTLE ROCKET, RUSHMORE, and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS. I will admit I did not love either THE LIFE AQUATIC nor THE DARJEELING LIMITED, but FANTASTIC MR. FOX was amazing and restored my faith, so let's hope he is on the rise to a second peak in his career, this time staying there for good.
 |
| Ridley Scott and xenomorph |
I love Ridley Scott's films when I get the sense he is completely submersing himself in a project. Now that may seem ridiculous, because he is a professional director, but some of his films are different, think BLADE RUNNER, ALIEN, GLADIATOR. There is something in these films that sets them apart, and for that reason they have become landmark films in their respective genres: sci-fi, sci-fi/horror, and historical action, respectively. I deeply hope, that PROMETHEUS can be added to this trope. PROMETHEUS is the prequel/sequel/different-story-same-universe to Scott's 1979 classic ALIEN, (along with the three other titles in this series), which has prompted much speculation and rumoring about the content. There is talk it will reveal clues to the origins of the Aliens of title, of man himself, and even the universe. Most interestingly perhaps, it will reveal some back-story about the enigmatic and unexplained "Space Jockey" seen in Scott's 1979 film. The trailer swept through just before Christmas and provided some suspenseful imagery; I think it is safe to say the Alien series is being taken back into the sci-fi/horror genre. The cast also looks excellent with Noomi Rapace (the original Lisbeth Salander), Michael Fassbender, Patrick Wilson, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, and Guy Pearce. Let's hope this turns out to be as good as we all want it to be!
 |
| Cuarón on the CHILDREN OF MEN set. |
GRAVITY, directed by Alfonso Cuarón.
Cuarón is responsible for one of my favorite films, the epic CHILDREN OF MEN, as well as the very excellent Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, so naturally I perked up when I heard he was doing another sci-fi film, this time with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. Rumors have also been swirling around this one, of a wildly technologically ambitious film told through motion capture, 3D, and most recently, of it being told in one long take, something Cuarón dazzled me with in CHILDREN OF MEN. No doubt if it is "one long take", there will be cuts hidden digitally here and there, but it will be quite impressive. I wonder if that means the story will be in real-time also? Another news item that has recently come up is that Cuarón has said "no" to his actors wearing make-up in the film. Interesting! I'm sure this film will get a lot of press for its innovations when the publicity campaign ramps up in the months before its alledged November 21 release date.
8.6.10
26.4.10
Blade Runner Art
One of the many reasons I love Blade Runner is for the richness of the environment. The sheer level of detail and conceptualization, the mash-up of a myriad of stylistic sources from Mayan and Aztec designs to Punk style of the 1980s, all makes the whole thing a feast for the eyes. The concept art for the film reveals a high level of attention to detail that went into the creation of Los Angeles, 2019. What I love is how detailed these are, as well as how dark there are, yet at the same time so full of life and colour! Which is an interesting point when one thinks about the film itself, which deals in concepts of reality versus illusion, life versus death. In the 2019 world the filmmakers envisioned, despite the fact that the world is a dying place, life thrives.
Deckard's kitchen
Street
Street
Street
Street
And two fan-made pieces:
Deckard's kitchen
Street
Street
Street
Street
And two fan-made pieces:
11.4.10
Parallel Lines - The Gift (2010)
Cool short film by a guy described to me as a protege of Ridley Scott. I'm on board!
Directed by Carl Erik Rinsch.
3.3.10
Blade Runner
I always loved the quote below about Blade Runner. I wrote a paper on the film in university and I found this in an article that I have long since forgotten. I wish I had made a note of the source. Anyhow, I think this perfectly describes the appeal of Blade Runner to me.
"That's part of the poetry under the film's gaudy nightmare, the deep poignancy that underlies the vicious action. It's about people who flare up and die in a strange city glowing and dying all around them. When the expiring Roy talks about all the memories--fantastic, violent, bewitching--that will perish with him, he's clinging, for those last instants, to the validity of his strange, desperate, deadly life. Blade Runner has a quality that Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris and Stalker and Kubrick's 2001 have: a sense of awe and helplessness, before both technology and the universe itself, a sense (running counter to the spirit of most science fiction) that man cannot master surrounds him, that he is, finally, helpless."
Screen caps from The Blade Runner - Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
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